Voting at National versus European Elections: An individual level test of the second order paradigm for the 2014 European Parliament Elections

Author(s)
Hajo Boomgaarden, David Johann, Sylvia Kritzinger
Abstract

The second-order paradigm is the dominant framework for research on electoral behavior in European Parliament (EP) elections. In this study, we assess to what degree voting patterns in the 2014 EP election were characterized by second-orderness. While most studies of second-order voting behavior rely on macro-level accounts or suffer from potentially conflated vote measures, this study relies on panel data from the 2013 national and the 2014 EP election in Austria. We study change patterns in electoral behavior and, more importantly, assess the motives behind differences in vote choices between first- and second-order elections. Overall, the findings point towards a persisting relevance of the second-order framework for explaining voting in the 2014 EP election.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication, Department of Government
Journal
Politics and Governance
Volume
4
Pages
130-144
No. of pages
15
ISSN
2183-2463
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v4i1.472
Publication date
02-2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
506012 Political systems
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sociology and Political Science, Public Administration
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/voting-at-national-versus-european-elections-an-individual-level-test-of-the-second-order-paradigm-for-the-2014-european-parliament-elections(a102d4d0-a90d-45b0-9783-a16439916f06).html